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Post by Old Swinburne on Jul 15, 2012 10:53:39 GMT -5
I would say 'Discworld', but there's so much more than that, isn't there?
So... Has anyone else read any Pratchetts? Liked them? What about The Long Earth? Snuff? Colour of Magic? Night Watch? The World of Poo?
I have three shelves full of them. Don't mock me.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Jul 15, 2012 11:14:52 GMT -5
I've read Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Equal Rites out of curiousness (there was general praise for them at one time on 667) but for some reason I was never able to really get into them. I do enjoy Pratchett's style and humor, though, and the books had their moments, which was why I read three rather than one.
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Post by Lady Whatever on Jul 15, 2012 12:39:12 GMT -5
I've read Equal Rites, The Colour of Magic, Maskerade, Hogfather, and Feetof Clay, plus Good Omens, co-written with Neil Gaiman. I'm working my way through all of them slowly, since I work in an office with a load of Pratchett-lovers. I want to wait until new covers are more widely released before collecting them all though, I find the current colours to be, quite frankly, overly busy and ugly, but the new ones I've seen in the bookstore show some promise.
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Post by Dante on Jul 15, 2012 14:18:35 GMT -5
I've read nearly all of Pratchett's work, with a few exceptions, largely due to having trouble keeping up recently. My dad did and does collect them, so some years ago I basically spent a few months reading through every last one. It's been too long for me to name a favourite, but I'm curiously fond of an old one - Strata.
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Post by Hermes on Jul 15, 2012 15:34:33 GMT -5
I have avoided the main Discworld series for fear that, if I started reading it, it would take up the rest of my life. I have read children's Discworld (The Amazing Maurice, and the Tiffany aching books) and the Nome books (Truckers and sequels). And Good Omens, which I love.
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Post by BSam on Jul 15, 2012 18:01:23 GMT -5
discworld is great, but does anyone else love truckers diggers and wings?
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Post by KlausBaudelaire833 on Jul 16, 2012 0:04:10 GMT -5
YES!!! I love his Discworld novels. I think what makes them great is the characters. You can connect with them, and what your favorite character in the series is usually connected to your personality.
I planned to post a Discworld thread here, but a Pratchett thread is ok too. I've read Men at Arms (my first Discworld novel), Wee Free Men, and Thud!. I plan to read Going Postal; they say it's the funniest novel from the series. Pratchett's style and humor is brilliant.
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Post by Dante on Jul 16, 2012 2:02:56 GMT -5
I have avoided the main Discworld series for fear that, if I started reading it, it would take up the rest of my life. That was what I was afraid of, too; I avoided them for years. If you don't already have all the books within easy reach, it's quite different, I expect.
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Post by Kensicle on Jul 16, 2012 2:57:52 GMT -5
I've finished The Colour of Magic and am currently hunting around for The Light Fantastic. Does it really matter what order you read the Discworld novels in? I've received differing accounts.
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Post by BSam on Jul 16, 2012 5:02:36 GMT -5
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Post by Dante on Jul 16, 2012 10:42:09 GMT -5
I just read them in publication order, personally.
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Post by Hermes on Jul 16, 2012 12:49:14 GMT -5
That generally works, but I think the question is whether one has to adhere strictly to publication order, even if one has no time to read them all, or can't find them all. To which the answer seems to be no - you can follow particular strands.
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Post by Old Swinburne on Jul 16, 2012 13:42:07 GMT -5
The Discworld books can be read in any order, with the possible exception of Going Postal/Making Money, Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic and Thud/Snuff. Also, the events in Night Watch are started off by the events in Thief of Time. And yes, KlausBaudelaire883, Going Postal is probably his funniest.
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Post by KlausBaudelaire833 on Jul 17, 2012 1:54:50 GMT -5
About the reading order: You could read the novels as individual stories, rather than just read them in a particular order (It's like when you watch The Simpsons. You don't need to watch the previous episodes to know the characters or to know what's going on), although some Discworld fans strongly recommend to read the books in the order BSam showed us.
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Post by A comet crashing into Earth on Jun 29, 2014 15:19:03 GMT -5
Pratchett was first brought into our home not long after I was born, with my mum bringing home a mass market paperback of Lords and Ladies from a trip to the UK. She never really took to it, but my dad had a look at the series, and apparently never quite stopped looking.
So I've grown up in a home with most of the Discworld books readily available, and probably for that reason, I've never read them in any sensible order. The ones I've read are Moving Pictures, Lords and Ladies, Carpe Jugulum, Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Going Postal, Making Money, A Hatful of Sky, Wintersmith, Interesting Times, I Shall Wear Midnight and Snuff. I've also read the first five books, The Wee Free Men and The Amazing Maurice, but those were in Danish (as my dad was trying to phase me into the fandom), and I've later come to realise that the things that make Pratchett Pratchett are the intranslatable stuff - the quirky puns, the occasional thought-provoking turn of phrase. So although I know the basic story in those, they're still on my to-read list simply because they must be so much more enjoyable in the original words.
Lately my enthusiasm has been relit by my discovery of Gollancz's Discworld Collector's Library editions. Having always been 'hindered' from starting my own collection by the fact that if I wanted to read any particular book, I only had to walk as far as the living room, anyway, I figured their publication was a good starting point for me to get the books. I'm at four books now - Sourcery, Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms and Soul Music, which is next on my Discworld reading list. Possibly not my Pratchett reading list, though. I might just dig into The Long Mars first, which I got just an hour ago from my aunt as a late birthday present. Although I prefer Discworld over the Long Earth series, I'm keeping up with LE, which can't be said of the Disc.
What else is there? I love the Bromeliad trilogy (which, in my opinion, stands proudly next to the best of the Discworld books), and at some point in the past I've also read Johnny Maxwell and The Carpet People, although this is so far back I can't remember any of the plot, or even which language I read them in.
Just to stir up some discussion - what is your stance on illustrators? Personally, I greatly prefer Kidby over Kirby. Kirby's covers are always way too crowded for my neatness-triggered tastes, and he got a lot of the details wrong - beardless dwarfs, an ancient-looking Rincewind. Besides, every character on his covers, except perhaps Death, looked more or less the way I imagine Nobby. In comparison, Kidby has that neatness I'm looking for, and his covers are true to the stories, yet astoundingly detailed without feeling crowded. That's my opinion, anyway. Not that Kirby isn't a talented artist - he's obviously skilled - his style just doesn't speak to me as much as Kidby's.
Also, I think he uses way too much yellow. It's like every other book is predominantly yellow. Has anyone else noticed that?
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